HEADLINES

1. Senate ethics panel: Ensign 'violated law'

   The Senate ethics committee has made a criminal referral to the Justice Department in its investigation into former Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), saying that its probe found that he had broken the law in his actions following his affair with a political aide.
   » Read full article

2. McConnell makes debt demands

   Senate minority leader wants deal to cut agency spending and overhaul Medicare and Medicaid before voting to raise the debt limit.
   » Read full article

3. The Fix: Romney defends health-care law

   The former Massachussets governor used a speech on health care to tout his willingness to stand up for his views whether or not doing so is smart politically.
   » Read full article

4. Big oil in the hot seat

   The Senate Finance Committee grilled senior executives of the five biggest oil companies Thursday on tax incentives.
   » Read full article

5. Obama seeks extension for FBI chief

   President Obama announced Thursday that he is seeking a two-year extension of Robert Mueller's term as FBI director, saying he cannot afford to lose the longtime FBI chief at a time of terrorist threats.
   » Read full article

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

Former Massachusetts governor and possible presidential candidate Mitt Romney responding to critics who call for him to apologize for the Massachusetts health care law:

"It wouldn't be honest. I did what I believed was right for the people of my state."

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COMMENT OF THE DAY

ComfortablyDumb, on Chris Cillizza's "WSJ not convinced about Romney" story:

RomneyCare was 'right at the time' because Obama wasn't around to suggest it. Romney even suggested (at the time) that it would make a good national model. But now that RomneyCare is ObamaCare, it is now 'wrong for the time' because it conflicts with the GOP's unwavering platform of 'Everything Obama does is Bad For America.'

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Q&A DISCUSSIONS

Frank Rubino, an international criminal defense attorney, was online at 2 p.m. ET to discuss inmate rights and what visitation rights would mean for Guantanamo Bay detainees:

Q: What are the rights to privacy of visitors seeing people in military prisons? May officials listen to the conversations between inmates and their visitors? If they could have visitors and their conversations are not private, it might actually be a mutual advantage to permit visitors.

Frank Rubino:

In a normal military prison (Guantanamo not being normal) a prisoner has a right for friends and family to visit him. Usually, four visits a month of one hour each. Officials may listen to conversations, both in person and telephone. They may be monitored and recording. There is no right to privacy in an inmate visit in a prison, unless that visit is an attorney/client visit.

» View full Q&A session

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MULTIMEDIA

Video: Gates on bin Laden raid

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said the bin Laden mission was one of the most courageous decisions he's ever seen a president make.